THE PLOVER. 273 



greatest delicacies, of which, from lack of the skill or 



knowledge, they are unable to make use. In the 



towns foreign merchants, English, French, &c., buy up 



these game birds whenever they are brought to market 



by any chance, and are only too glad to do so. 



Of an evening the booming of these bitterns can 



be heard at a great distance as they roam about the 

 swamps. 



Three kinds of plover visit the Texas plains in the 



spring, and again in the autumn. They stay about four 



or five weeks on each occasion ; and, though poor in 



flesh when they arrive, they soon begin to get fat, and 



before they leave become the fattest birds I have ever 



seen — the oil pouring from the wounds, caused by the 



small shot kernels, like water. 



.'/ 



